


Let's Hang Out Sometime

by Kira_Dattei



Series: The Old Guard Whumptober 2020 [1]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Established Relationship, Immortal Found Family, Immortal Husbands Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, M/M, Whumptober 2020, slight whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:14:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27321052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kira_Dattei/pseuds/Kira_Dattei
Summary: Nicolo sleeps between Yusuf and the entry point of the room for a reason. Yusuf is aware of this but he still hates that Nicolo is the one to always be at risk while they sleep.Prompt: Waking up Restrained
Relationships: Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Series: The Old Guard Whumptober 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1994617
Comments: 8
Kudos: 177





	Let's Hang Out Sometime

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there Old Guard fandom!!!  
> Here's my first step into this amazing fandom, amazing both for the canon we were given and the fics that are coming for it. I was planning on doing some angst prompts to use to just get a feel for writing the characters and then the Whumptober prompt list was posted and I decided to go with that instead. So, my 2020 Whumptober has been dedicated to this fandom. But I'm not really a whump writer so I can't guarantee there to be loads of whump involved in all of them. And I've apparently decided Joe needs to be the whumpee more often so most of them are like that.  
> And I'm posting the first one on the last day of October because I wasn't writing them in order and wanted to finish all prompts before I started posting. I finished writing the last one today and so I start posting today and will post one fic per day.
> 
> These are all going to be one-shots and none of them are necessarily connected to each other.

“Be cautious. Nicolo and Yusuf are fighting,” Quynh announced as she stepped through the doorway of the house the four were currently residing at, the two men following behind and Yusuf giving her a dark look. Nicolo simply stalked past them and then Andromache as she came to greet them.

“We are not fighting,” Yusuf countered.

“What is it this time around?” Andromache asked, ignoring Yusuf. Even as he knew it did not place the most complimentary image of himself, he understood as he was prone to not admitting when he and Nicolo were at odds. It was a rare occurrence and he preferred it stay private.

And it hadn’t even been a year since they had met Andromache and Quynh and they were still becoming accustomed to one another. Yusuf would not say he distrusted the two women but as it had only been him and Nicolo together for so many years, it was taking time for him to be comfortable with more. He believed as Nicolo did that it felt right for all of them to be together but that didn’t bypass the adjustment period.

It was also hindered by the knowledge Andromache had brought with her of this life they now had to endure, the inability to die and how one day it would not be so anymore. Yusuf had come to an acceptance shortly after he and Nicolo had come to know love for one another that he could endure this life with Nicolo at his side. There was now a deep fear within him that Nicolo would die and remain so and leave Yusuf to live on.

Andromache had attempted to soothe him once when he had been too obvious in how it bothered him by saying that they were too young in their immortality but that did little to quell his growing anxiety.

He knew that fear was reaching a tipping point in him and it was making him short tempered, even with Nicolo. And Nicolo was proving how well he knew Yusuf in contrast to the two women as he kept pressing Yusuf to discuss his fears instead of attempting to push them aside.

“Yusuf is attempting to claim the other side of the bed,” Quynh answered Andromache and she sounded entirely too amused for Yusuf’s tastes.

He held a fondness for these two fierce women and while he was yet learning of them, he had seen their kindness and depth of emotion and that had called to him. He cared about them deeply, knowing they would become as sisters to him despite that he had never had sisters.

Andromache laughed and Yusuf glared at her. “I assume Nicolo is being the voice of reason?”

“Of course.”

Yusuf stalked past Quynh and headed toward the door to the bedroom he shared with Nicolo. “If I wished to be treated as a child, I would never have left for war,” he declared over his shoulder.

“Both of your parents had already passed,” Nicolo called after him. “There would have been no one to treat you so.”

“And it would still have been preferred to this!”

He shut the door behind him, making a point not to slam it as he truly wished. But this house they had claimed was not in the best state and they were yet working at fixing it up so it could be a place for them to return to often. He didn’t want his temper to result in giving him more work.

Because he would feel guilty for breaking something and would need to repair it to assuage that guilt.

He then walked over to the bed and sat down heavily on it. He sighed and pulled the cloak off his shoulders, pulling the tie from his hair so it fell free around his head, the curls currently settling just past his shoulders.

It had been some times since he had allowed it to grow this long and he had been appreciating the variety of ways he could plait it and tie it back as he was currently more restricted on how he could occupy his hands. They hadn’t been able to find somewhere to get him drawing materials nearby yet.

Yusuf looked over his shoulder to the bed, his place being against the wall. He and Nicolo had discovered within the first decade of their time together that Yusuf did not wake easily or with haste. Not like Nicolo who could be alert and armed within an instant no matter how deeply he slumbered. They had long ago arranged that Yusuf would sleep in the more vulnerable position while Nicolo acted as a shield to them both.

It had served them well many times now and many attackers had died before they were able to take advantage of the two because of Nicolo’s defensive position.

With the other two present and Andromache having spent much time teaching them tactics she had learned over her already thousands of years of life that Yusuf did not feel as though they needed to take the same measure of precaution.

What he wouldn’t say and what Nicolo understood was the source of his current unusual behavior was that he was simply afraid of Nicolo dying in protecting him while they slept and Yusuf would awaken to his love being gone from his side for good, at last claimed by a death he wouldn’t wake from soon after.

Nicolo had stated earlier when Yusuf had first brought up the topic that how things had been for many years now was the safest, proven often enough to not be debated. He had obviously wanted to say something more…selfish but had managed to refrain so far. Though Yusuf was aware that if he did not concede, that would be Nicolo’s next tactic.

They did not seriously argue often but that didn’t change how familiar they were with one another.

Quynh attempted to draw him out for dinner hours later but he ignored her. He felt like solitude was the best course for him in this case as he truly didn’t want to say something to any of his companions that he would regret once this passed.

And when Nicolo entered their room to get prepared for bed, Yusuf grabbed his cloak and a spare blanket and went back out to the common room.

When Nicolo had given him a sad look as he did so, Yusuf had sighed and stopped long enough to give his love a kiss on the cheek, saying, “I am not angry with you but myself.”

Nicolo had reached up and placed his hand over Yusuf’s cheek. “I know. I had simply wished you would have found your peace before nightfall. If you wish, return to our bed anytime. You know I will not be sleeping soundly while you are absent.”

Nicolo understood him better than any other. He knew what Yusuf needed so well.

Yusuf offered him a grin absent true humor, “You never sleep soundly.”

He still needed more solitude to truly dismiss this. He laid out on the floor along the wall across from the main entrance, giving himself as much reason to not sleep soundly as not being able to truly relax unless he felt there were some measure of restriction of how he could be attacked without Nicolo sleeping with him. The door to Andromache and Quynh’s room was also between him and the entrance and that allowed him a bit more security.

As usual, it didn’t take him long to fall asleep. He had slept in much more uncomfortable places than on a floor after all. The most difficult part was that he didn’t have Nicolo beside him, the solid lines of his body a calming and focusing presence to Yusuf’s mind even as he slept.

He was startled awake by someone heavier than any of his three companions straddling his waist, the blanket tangling up his arms and legs enough that he couldn’t counter and free himself efficiently. He was further irritated when he felt rope wrap around his wrists and pull them securely together.

He ignored that to look up at the one restraining him so, though that held no use as he didn’t recognize him. Yusuf had become proficient enough at remembering faces of those he saw because of their battles or ones they left alive who ended up coming after them for something foolish like vengeance.

Motion behind the man caught Yusuf’s attention and he had to dismiss the urge to laugh at how ridiculous it was that they be subject to something as mundane as being robbed. He had heard of there being an increase in people’s homes being stormed in the middle of the night over the past months and he had considered looking further into it for distraction if nothing else.

There were five men total, all searching through their belongings and setting aside anything that appeared to be of value, which was quite a lot with how much they had accumulated over years between the four of them.

One was approaching Nicolo’s door and Yusuf felt panic at them catching his love unaware.

“Nicolo!” he cried out and was at once struck against the temple with enough strength to dizzy him.

It mattered not as he heard movement from Andromache and Quynh’s room just before the door opened and they charged into the room with weapons in hand, Nicolo doing the same and quickly dispatching the intruders.

The one holding Yusuf down was distracted and so Yusuf quickly looked down at his belt and then reached with his bound hands to take the knife stuck into his belt, drawing it free, and then stabbed it up through the man’s neck, flinching away from the blood spilling down on to him.

Couldn’t he spend a significant amount of time not covered in blood, his own or others?

He pulled the knife free and then flipped it in his grip to cut at the rope. The blade was sharp and cared for and so he was able to cut through the rope easily, yanking at it at the end to break it and then he tossed it aside. He was starting to work himself out from under the now dead body that had slumped to the side against the wall when Nicolo approached him along with Andromache and the two helped drag the body from atop Yusuf, dropping it to the floor carelessly as they turned their attention to Yusuf, ensuring he was free and safe.

“Why are you on the floor?” Andromache asked once he had pushed the blanket aside and was moving to stand. There was no need to try and remain comfortable. Even if he didn’t need to change his clothes and wash away the blood, they would need to remove the bodies. Sleep would not be plentiful that night for any of them.

“It is the middle of the night. I was sleeping, just as you were. Well, you have clothes on so I assume you were sleeping,” he said, gradually becoming frustrated for his sleep being interrupted.

Andromache crossed her arms and gave him an impatient look. He simply shrugged dismissively as he knew she wasn’t truly angry with him for his shortness of temper, likely because she had already known he was in a foul mood before the day had ended. And she was usually quite tolerant of his tendency to jest when the situation allowed.

“Why are you not in your room? Or at least somewhere more comfortable than the floor.”

“Andromache,” Nicolo interrupted before Yusuf could decide what to reply with. She looked over to him and he simply returned her gaze in that manner he was very skilled in where he did not need to speak to convey his meaning. And Andromache was skilled in interpreting that expression and listening to the request relayed.

She proved so now as she let out a sigh and stood, moving over to Quynh to help her carry out one of the bodies and Yusuf wondered if they would decide to move on or dismiss tonight as purely random and not needing of their relocation. He wondered if he asked her if they could remain if she would listen. He didn’t quite feel like moving on just yet.

Once they were outside, Yusuf looked over to Nicolo, who was busying himself with positioning another of the bodies to be moved. When he noticed Yusuf watching him, he stopped and waited for him to speak.

Yusuf dropped down to the floor beside his love, sitting heavily with a sigh. “I apologize.” He knew Nicolo wouldn’t make him specify more. He knew Yusuf was genuine in his apology as he always was when he gave one. And while he would often elaborate, it was when he was certain he was beyond what was causing him to lash out.

It was no different this time as Nicolo gave him a warm smile. “I accept. Now will you please return to our bed once we have cleaned up? I do wish to get some sleep tonight.”

Yusuf returned the smile as he felt warm fondness for his love blossom deep in his chest. He would never cease to love this man.

He would also likely never cease fearing the loss of his love. But he would learn to endure his fear and not allow it to guide his actions. He had to treasure the time he would be given and understand it was more than most received.


End file.
